The Joy of Living a Dream - Honda Civic S MT (Pre-Owned)

This is a discussion on The Joy of Living a Dream - Honda Civic S MT (Pre-Owned) within Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; Originally Posted by arvi86
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I am taking the help of skdking to prove them that they have replaced the ...

Regardless of that, you had clearly told them about the issue well before the five years period expired.

It is none of your fault that they did not have the part in their stocks.

They can not wriggle out of their obligations quoting their own mistake.

It's been 5 days now since I gave my car to Capital Honda. Numerous calls to the SA, two mails to Honda One-2-One and three attempts to talk to Honda One-2-One didn't yield any result. I finally got the contact of Capital Honda's Customer Relations Manager. I called him, explained him everything in detail and he promised to take it to the dealership senior management and also Honda and revert today. He also said that the issue looks straight forward as I had mentioned about front suspension noises last March and it is there in their records and assured that this will mostly be covered under warranty. He did come back today, but said a decision will be made tomorrow morning. I have told him that I am not ready to pay for thier lethargic attitude. Let's see what he comes up with tomorrow.

I am already fed up. Though I still love the car to the core, it's startling to know how 1.5 years of good ownership experience can be spoilt in just a matter of days.

Arvi buddy trust me i have gone through the same feelings that you are going through now with respect to HASS.Trust me hass is not to be trusted and frankly i am better off not dealing with them when something goes wrong with the car.Those punks are only good for routine oil changes etc.But do hold on,the civic's a car which is worth the trouble.I hope things work out.

i have gone through the same feelings that you are going through now with respect to HASS.

Yup, I know your story completely and even remember being surprised that you had decided to take your car to individual mechanics rather than H.A.S.S. How quickly things change!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Those punks are only good for routine oil changes etc.

I was quite happy with the people at Capital Honda till now. Even now, the only thing that frustrates me is that they had me chasing them for a part for months together and finally have the guts to say that I did not push them enough. It can't get worse than this.

After a week of drama in which I was regularly talking to the Service Advisor and the dealership's Customer Relations Manager every morning and evening, I finally got some respite. Earlier yesterday, the CRM informed me that Honda can't replace this part Free of Cost, as my car is older than 5 years. He also said that he is trying to get a discount in the cost of the mount. I made it clear that I can't bear anything more than 50%. Since I was able to prove to them that I was indeed following up with them for the hydraulic engine mount since May-2012, I finally got a call late last evening that Honda, as a 'goodwill gesture', will be giving a 50% discount on the part cost. Capital Honda, on their part, agreed to slash off 50% from the labour cost.

Since this issue was being dragged along so much and I badly wanted my car for the weekend, I accepted and said that I will collect the car today evening.

With all the things that happened, I was hoping that it will all go smoothly today. Thankfully, it did, except that the left-side ORVM isn't working properly. I am able to close and open the mirror assembly and move the glass left and right, but not up and down. There should be a loose connection somewhere and I think I will have to visit them again to get it corrected. I did test the gap in the new mount at the dealership and it now accommodates 2 old 5 Rupee coins. I will post pictures of the new part tomorrow.

I ended up paying INR 4357 for the hydraulic engine mount instead of INR 8714, which is the original cost of the part (including labour charges). The total charges, including the cost of replacing the faulty AC Relays, added up to INR 6345. So, one full week of persistence saved me around 4000 bucks.

Though I am not totally happy with the outcome, I must admit that I am not totally upset either. The CRM was genuinely supportive and took down all the points that I had to make. I thanked him yesterday for all his efforts and the apologetic nature in which he dealt with this problem.

Lastly, heart-felt thanks to skdking and Autofreak for helping out and sharing all necessary details.

I recommend that now you give a call to everyone in Capital Honda and thank them.

You are right. I did just that a day before I took delivery of the car from the service station. I must admit that the CRM made this entire episode a feel-good one for me. Now, that's a total contrast from the frustrations that overflowed just a week back.

The car is back to its own good self now. The ride seems to have slightly improved after replacing the hydraulic engine mount, but I guess it's more of a perception. I haven't had a chance to drive over big potholes to assess whether the big 'thud' creeps up, as it did before. The biggest advantage of replacing the faulty mount is that the vibrations in the first and second gear are totally eliminated and the car feels smooth.

Meanwhile, I hear a slight creaking noise every time I press the clutch pedal. Does that indicate a lack of lubrication or something?

Hi Arvi,
I happened to read through your very first post of this thread.
my story seems to be some what like yours. I currently own a santro which i have been using for 6+ years, clocked approx 1.5l kms.now its time for upgrade.

I am totally crzy bout Honda civic. When searched for i found many civics within 7lac range in mumbai which are driven below 30k kms.
My daily run would be approx 70kms..the FE of civic is bothering me...
Does a cng conversion makes sense for daily commute?? Any satisfactory reports on above, in your knowledge..

Quote:

Originally Posted by arvi86

Thanks for the clarification.

When you say you got it replaced Free of Cost, was your car still under warranty? What was the date and month of manufacture? I hope I will have the same luck with Capital Honda tomorrow.

Hi Arvi,
I happened to read through your very first post of this thread.
my story seems to be some what like yours. I currently own a santro which i have been using for 6+ years, clocked approx 1.5l kms.now its time for upgrade.

I am totally crzy bout Honda civic. When searched for i found many civics within 7lac range in mumbai which are driven below 30k kms.
My daily run would be approx 70kms..the FE of civic is bothering me...
Does a cng conversion makes sense for daily commute?? Any satisfactory reports on above, in your knowledge..

I recently converted my Civic A/T done 30k into cng. The convertion is doing fine. The running cost is less than 3 Rs per KM. My usage had increased to approx 50-60 kms daily hence rather than changing the car I thought of converting it to CNG. Trust me there is almost negligible drop in performance while running on cng. The drop can't be more than 10% in performance on CNG that too on a higher side. Find a good tuner and get the CNG, you will not regret the decision.

thanks saurabh for your feedback and sharing your experience.now would definitely go ahead with civic and get cng retrofit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saurabhkum

I recently converted my Civic A/T done 30k into cng. The convertion is doing fine. The running cost is less than 3 Rs per KM. My usage had increased to approx 50-60 kms daily hence rather than changing the car I thought of converting it to CNG. Trust me there is almost negligible drop in performance while running on cng. The drop can't be more than 10% in performance on CNG that too on a higher side. Find a good tuner and get the CNG, you will not regret the decision.

Hi Arvi,
I happened to read through your very first post of this thread.
my story seems to be some what like yours. I currently own a santro which i have been using for 6+ years, clocked approx 1.5l kms.now its time for upgrade.

Hi RHCP, apologies for a delayed response. It's good to hear that both of share similar aspirations when it comes to cars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RHCP

I am totally crzy bout Honda civic. When searched for i found many civics within 7lac range in mumbai which are driven below 30k kms.

I would just say one thing - 'Follow your dream'. The Civic is a brilliant car and, if you are crazy about it as you say, the car will make you smile every time you look at it or take it for a spin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RHCP

My daily run would be approx 70kms..the FE of civic is bothering me...
Does a cng conversion makes sense for daily commute?? Any satisfactory reports on above, in your knowledge..

I am sure there are quite a few in the forum who are on the CNG way after looking at this thread. You guys in Mumbai have that advantage which, unfortunately, isn't available to us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saurabhkum

I recently converted my Civic A/T done 30k into cng. The convertion is doing fine. The running cost is less than 3 Rs per KM. My usage had increased to approx 50-60 kms daily hence rather than changing the car I thought of converting it to CNG. Trust me there is almost negligible drop in performance while running on cng. The drop can't be more than 10% in performance on CNG that too on a higher side. Find a good tuner and get the CNG, you will not regret the decision.

There you go, there is one more CNG Civic in the forum for us to be jealous of. Jokes apart, it's great to know that a so-much-fun-to-drive car like Civic can make such good economic sense as well without creating any big repurcussions. Great going, keep us posted on your car's performance.

As much disappointed as I was when Honda launched the plain-looking 2012 Civic in USA, I was in for a pleasant shock when Honda did that emergency refresh (as it is popularly being referred to there) for it's bread and butter model. The 2013 Civic, despite having the same body shell and underpinnings as the 2012 model, was looking classy and elegant. Though not as modern and striking as the 2007 Civic was at the time of its launch, I have become a fan of the 2013 Civic now. And I duly convinced my cousin living there to buy one of these when he was looking out for a new car to replace his ageing 2002 Sonata.

The Elantra (neo-fluidic Elantra for us in India) almost became his second car when I cajoled him into buying the 2013 Civic. There was a lot of apprehension and hesitation on the Civic, given the fact that all he heard was negative feedback on the 2012 model. In contrast, all my cousin heard about the Elantra was great stuff and extremely-pleased owners. It kind of shows what a big impact the word-of-mouth creates in a market like USA.

Looking at the pictures of his brand-new car, I am at a loss to explain what made Honda decide against launching this car in India. It looks good inside and out, is loaded to the hilt with features, is apparently tuned to ride and handle better than the previous generation model and also comes with an option of a diesel engine in Europe. Why wouldn't Honda launch this in India? And, why should India only have the Brio and the Amaze? In my opinion, Honda is doing a blunder by discontinuing the globally-successful Civic and Jazz in India, inspite of earning quite a lot of fans for both the models.

All in all, I am happy to have done my bit for spreading the love of 'Civic' across the shores. I am also disappointed that I won't have that luxury if at all I decide to replace my Civic here in India. Not that I am going to do that anytime soon, but still!

Dreaming of the new Civic.Well i like the exteriors but i kinda like our Civic's interior better as the new one's look squarish.Well as for the launching of the new Civic in India, i guess C++/D segment cars seem to have taken a beating with respect to sales and the lack of a non-petrol option seems like a obstacle that Honda will have to cross.Since the underpinngs and the engine is the same i suppose we are only missing out on the new look

i guess C++/D segment cars seem to have taken a beating with respect to sales and the lack of a non-petrol option seems like a obstacle that Honda will have to cross.

The new Elantra is proving otherwise, comfortably beating all its rivals in spite of its not-so-successful stint earlier in India. Moreover, Honda is adamant that the European 1.6-liter iDTEC can't be tuned for our market. And, that's the crux of the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Since the underpinnings and the engine is the same i suppose we are only missing out on the new look

Don't forget the whole lot of creature comforts that we miss out on. Honda was stingy, but ain't anymore.